In video surveillance, multiple operators view one or more monitors or video screens, watching for particular activities, abnormalities and other events. When an event occurs, an operator may have to report it, and the operator may wish to interact and/or collaborate with other operators to determine suspects, objects and/or other items of interests. Each operator generally views video in “salvo” or in a salvo layout, that is, in a logical arrangement of video panels, monitors or cameras. When a first operator wants to notify a second operator about a camera the first operator is viewing, he must contact the second operator using convention methods, such as telephone, intercom, or on-line chat feature.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,574,674, Method and System for Managing Data while Sharing Application Programs, May et al., discloses a method and system for managing data or objects shared by multiple instances of a shared application program. The information is shared using an Object Management (OM) system that manages shared data for multiple application programs. The data is stored in a shared data pool that is controlled by the OM. Hence, all the applications access the shared data pool. No data is messaged from one application or user to another. Instead, each user's computer has its own copy of the shared data pool.
Among the problems of the aforementioned systems is the lack of an effective communication infrastructure among video surveillance operators. Information initially viewed by one operator on a particular camera or video screen can only be shared with others through conventional contact methods in conjunction with a common data pool.